1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of hookahs and water pipes, specifically to hookahs and water pipes in which water used to filter and cool smoke and vapor also serves to draw smoke and vapor into a smoke and vapor collection chamber using a hydraulic pressure gradient, also known as head, and to flush smoke and vapor from a smoke and vapor collection chamber, dispensing smoke and vapor for inhalation.
2. Background of the Invention
The hookah or water pipe has been used for centuries to smoke both plain and flavored tobaccos, mixtures of various aromatic herbs and spices, or mixtures of both. Typically a hookah has of a bowl in which tobacco is placed mounted on top of a reservoir structure, the interior of which is partially filled with water. Extending downward from the bowl into the reservoir is a tubular hollow stem, with its lowermost extremity immersed in the water. The interior portion of the reservoir structure above the level of the water forms a chamber into which smoke may be collected. One or more flexible hoses extend outward from the smoke collection portion of the interior of the reservoir. An example of such a typical hookah is shown by the design of U.S. Pat. No. Des. 403,106, Tobacco Hookah, Barnes.
Inhaling through a flexible hose, a smoker causes smoke to be drawn from the bowl down the stem, passing the smoke through the water in the lower portion of the reservoir. Passing upwards through the water in the form of bubbles, smoke gradually fills the smoke collection portion of the reservoir, and when sufficient smoke has been collected passes on through the flexible hose to the smoker.
By drawing the smoke through a water reservoir, the smoke is filtered and cooled, making the smoking experience even more pleasant and enjoyable. Because the requirement for a water reservoir results in increased size and weight, use of a flexible hose through which smoke may be inhaled provides a simple and easy way to use the hookah, and to share this enjoyable smoking experience among a number of smokers.
This basic functionality is shared by virtually all traditional hookahs, which generally differ only in size, shape, and number of hoses, although the means used to burn the tobacco may also differ. Some use a lighted coal placed in or above the bowl with the tobacco to provide a heat source for burning the tobacco. Others may require an ignition source such as a match to be placed near the bowl to begin burning the tobacco. However all traditional hookahs use combustion as the method of producing smoke, thus also producing all the undesirable combustion by-products in the smoke. Use of water to filter and cool the smoke significantly reduces many of the undesirable smoke components, but some, such as carbon monoxide, cannot be removed in this manner.
For centuries combustion was the only technology available for production of smoke. However, the widespread availability of electric power has allowed development of a variety of ingenious alternatives to combustion for use by smokers. These typically generate a sufficient amount of heat to vaporize volatile aromatic components of the tobacco without actually burning the tobacco, in this way avoiding production of undesirable combustion by-products such as carbon monoxide present in smoke. Examples of these include the devices U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,756, Smoking or Inhalation Device, Mielordt; U.S. Pat. No. 2,104,266, Means for the Production and Inhalation of Tobacco Fumes, McCormick; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,798, Tobacco smoking article with electrochemical heat source, Banneriee et al. However, despite the existence of these and other technologies, all hookahs and the vast majority of smoking appliances still rely on the use of combustion as the means to produce smoke and vapor for inhalation, and make no provision for the use of any alternate technology.
Irrespective of the means used by a given hookah to produce smoke, the method of smoking is the same. The smoker inhales from a flexible hose, drawing smoke from the bowl down through the stem to bubble up from the lowermost extremity of the stem immersed in water, filtering and cooling the smoke. The filtered, cooled smoke gradually collects in the interior portion of the hookah, from which it is drawn by inhalation through a flexible hose.
Unfortunately until sufficient smoke has been collected in the interior of the hookah the smoker experiences only the effort of sucking air through the hookah. In a large hookah with a large interior collection chamber, this may require several minutes of effort. Likewise, after the interior portion of the hookah has filled with collected smoke, there is no provision to flush the smoke from the chamber, so a continuous effort must be exerted to enjoy the smoking experience. And unfortunately the collected smoke can become “stale” and unpleasant in taste if not inhaled soon enough, resulting in reduced enjoyment of the smoking experience.
In all traditional hookahs and water pipes a human smoker inhales from a flexible hose or mouthpiece to create the vacuum or negative pressure required to draw smoke through the filtering and cooling water into the interior of the hookah or water pipe. This limits the maximum vacuum or negative pressure that can be created to that which can be produced by normal human lung power. The vacuum or negative pressure in turn influences the combustion rate of the tobacco. The flavors of different types of tobaccos can be influenced by the combustion rate. Some are best when burned slowly at relatively low temperatures, others when burned quickly at relatively higher temperatures. However, the limited ability of human lung power to produce a vacuum or negative pressure also limits the maximum combustion rate that can be achieved in a traditional hookah or water pipe.
Furthermore, the dependence upon human lung power also limits the depth at which the lowermost extremity of the stem can be immersed, thus limiting the amount of water through which the smoke can be passed to be filtered and cooled. If the depth at which the lowermost extremity of the stem is immersed is too great, normal human lung power cannot attain a sufficient vacuum or negative pressure to draw smoke from the bowl into the interior of the hookah. This in turn limits the amount of filtering and cooling that can be achieved in a traditional hookah or water pipe.
Nonetheless, the combination of ease-of-use and smoking pleasure provided by the hookah have not been excelled by any subsequent smoking technology.
In recent times a number of water-pipe alternatives to the hookah have been developed that address the issue of flushing smoke from chamber into which smoke has been collected. Generally known as bongs, such devices generally consist of a tubular body containing a quantity of water in the lowermost portion of its interior, with a stem-and-bowl combination protruding from the body above the level of the water, and with the lowermost portion of the stem immersed in water inside the tubular body.
A small hole in the body of the bong above the water line is covered with a finger or thumb while inhaling, drawing smoke through the filtering and cooling water and allowing the smoke to fill the interior portion of the tubular body. When uncovered, this hole allows the collected smoke to be thoroughly flushed out of the tubular body with a minimum of inhalation effort. However the inhalation effort required to fill the chamber with smoke can still be substantial. Typical of such designs are: U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,646, Smoking Device, Kahler; U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,213, Smoking Pipe, Shanto et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,785, Water Pipe or Bong, Erickson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,326, Automatic Loading Bong, Harbaugh; Interesting variations on the typical bong design are illustrated by the designs of U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,204, Collapsible Telescopic Water Pipe, Kline; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,214, Water Pipe, Flesher.
An additional approach to the problem of flushing smoke from the smoke collection chamber of a bong is provided by the design of U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,475, Water Pipes or Bongs, Ronald J. and Batya R. G. Schreiber. This device uses the water present in the bong to assist in flushing the smoke from the smoke collection chamber, however still relying on human lung power to create the requisite vacuum or negative pressure. To protect the smoker from a mouthful of foul-tasting water an intricate water-trap mechanism is provided. In addition, the combustion bowl must be sealed off from the water with a valve when using the cooling water to flush smoke from the bong. While it is ingenious, the inhalation effort required to fill the collection chamber remains, and use of this device may require more effort than many smokers are willing to invest. In addition, the time required for water to drain from the water trap mechanism and refill the filtering reservoir may limit the appeal of this device.
Like the hookah, all of these devices share the traditional, intuitive use of a bowl for the combustion of tobacco to produce smoke and a separate mouthpiece for the inhalation of smoke from a smoke collection chamber, connected to the bowl by some means which allows the smoke to be passed through a water reservoir to be filtered and cooled. Also like the hookah, all of these devices require the smoker to exert an inhalation effort, in some cases substantial, to fill a collection chamber with smoke prior to actual inhalation of smoke. Although they do address the problem of flushing collected smoke from a smoke collection chamber, lacking a flexible hose, they all lack the relaxed and enjoyable appeal of the smoking experience provided by the hookah. And the reliance on human lung power limits both the maximum vacuum or negative pressure that can be attained and the combustion rate of the tobacco.
An attempt to simultaneously address the problems of inhalation effort and flushing of the smoke collection chamber is presented by patent application Pub. No. U.S. 2002/0074006 A1, Telescoping Water Pipe, Gunn. However, this device is not truly a water pipe in the traditional sense, as the water present in this device provides little or no filtering and cooling of the smoke, and could be replaced by a fixed piston with little or no loss of functionality. A innovative, non-traditional, and somewhat counterintuitive use of the same orifice for both production and collection of smoke and the inhalation of smoke, requiring the bowl assembly to be removed from the device prior to inhalation, may be confusing to some smokers. Lacking the hookah hose, inhalation from this device may also require a physical effort and coordination that some smokers may consider excessive.
What is needed to overcome the various disadvantages evident in the prior art is a hookah or water pipe that allows for the use of either traditional combustion, modern electronic, or other means for the production of smoke and vapor, uses water to filter and cool the smoke and vapor produced, eliminates the inhalation effort required by a traditional hookah or water pipe, provides a means for flushing the collected smoke and vapor from the interior portion of the hookah, and makes traditional, intuitive use of a mouthpiece for inhalation and a separate bowl or other suitable structure for the placement of tobacco from which smoke and vapor can be produced. Such a device would combine the advantages of the prior art while eliminating their various respective disadvantages. As will be seen, this improved hookah achieves these objects and advantages with a minimum of functioning parts in a new, unobvious, and useful combination.